Plymouth Argyle can take heart from the fact that their FA Youth Cup opponents Manchester City geared up for Thursday’s fixture with a 2-0 loss at Derby County.

The Citizens boast one of the best Academies in the country and have reached the final of the FA Youth Cup in each of the last three seasons.

Their quest for glory starts with Thursday’s third round trip to Home Park where they face an Argyle side that has already seen off Eastleigh (7-2) and AFC Wimbledon (3-2) in the first two rounds of the competition.

In charge of the Citizens is former Manchester United youngster Simon Davies, who made his Football League debut on loan at Exeter City back in 1993. Davies was part of United’s famous ‘Class of 92’ along with the likes of David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and Gary Neville.

Now, Davies is part of the Academy coaching set-up at the Etihad Stadium and has been tasked with managing the City youngsters in this season’s FA Youth Cup, instead of regular Under 18 head coach Gareth Taylor.

Taylor was in charge of the Citizens on Saturday as they crashed to a 2-0 defeat at Derby with both goals coming inside the opening 11 minutes. Felix Nmecha then missed a stoppage time penalty for City.

Who to look out for?

Manchester City's English midfielder Phil Foden controls the ball during the UEFA Champions League Group F football match between Manchester City and Feyenoord (Photo credit should read OLI SCARFF/AFP/Getty Images)

As mentioned above, City have one of the best Academies in the country - if not the world – and several of their youngsters have represented their nation at international level.

Perhaps the biggest name known is Phil Foden, the 17-year-old sensation from Stockport whose progress has been such that he has even been named in Pep Guardiola’s first team squad on occasions this season.

Last week, Foden made his full debut for the club as they lost 2-1 to Shakhtar Dontetsk in the Champions League group stage, while he made his first appearance for the club as a substitute in a 1-0 win against Feyenoord.

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Foden was one of the star performers as England won the Under 17 World Cup, scoring twice in the 5-2 win over Spain in the final. With a goal against Mexico at the group stage as well, Foden then went on to win the Golden Ball award for being the player of the tournament.

Foden was joined in the team by his City team-mates Joel Latibeaudiere and Curtis Anderson. Goalkeeper Anderson was the hero of the last 16 win as he saved one spot kick and then netted himself as England saw off Japan.

Defender Latibeaudiere played every minute at the heart of a defence that conceded only six goals in their seven-match run to the final.

Luke Bolton is another name to look out for. The winger has just turned 18 and was part of the England Under-20 side that won the Toulon tournament for the sixth time in June, beating Ivory Coast on penalties.

What to expect?

It is hard to imagine any team playing like the Manchester City first team right now, but that is what is demanded of Academy head coach Gareth Taylor and even first team boss Pep Guardiola.

In a recent interview, Taylor was asked what his aims are for the Under 18 side and replied: “I want us to dominate possession.

“Similar to the first team and similar to any other coach’s philosophy at the Club - we work to the method - that’s what we want to do.

“We want to be able to build through the thirds and dominate possession and win the ball back wherever possible.

“We want to win – winning is a part of it, but we understand and people at the Club understand that there are times when we are not going to win.”